


Act of Kindness

by spockothyprime



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Angst, M/M, Star Trek: Generations Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 14:36:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16369463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockothyprime/pseuds/spockothyprime
Summary: Some beings always managed to find their way to one another, no matter what outside influences kept them apart. Their fates were entwined, linked together for reasons even the Q didn’t understand. The continuum had decided long ago that interference in those timelines was forbidden. Strictly forbidden. Any Q that interfered was expelled from the continuum immediately.Where Q has a heart, breaks some rules, and ultimately brings a happy ending to the most legendary love story in the universe(s).





	Act of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! This has been sitting in my WIP folder for a few months now. After a length Next Generation and Original Series marathon, I finally got around to finishing it! Kudos and comments always appreciated.

A faint beeping sound roused Q from his sleep. He rolled over onto his side and slowly sat up, careful not to disturb the sleeping man beside him. Jean-Luc was so quarrelsome when he didn’t get his rest, Q had discovered that the hard way. He got to his feet and walked over to the window, staring out at the stars. Sleep wasn’t a necessity for him, of course, but it did help him to feel closer to Jean-Luc. Almost as though they were a human couple, that they spent every night like this. It kept Q from thinking too hard about the continuum, what they would say about his relationship with the other. He sat down on the little sofa and looked out, watching as the heavens slipped past. Being with Jean-Luc had really changed things for him. He understood more about humans than any other Q ever had, things about their relationships. He’d been to other universes, found other Jean-Lucs. Each was wonderful in their own way, each drew him in easily. This however...this Jean-Luc was his favorite. The first one he encountered, if he looked back on his own linear timeline. The one who had shielded Q when he was human for that brief amount of time, the one who was fiercely protective and devoted to a strong moral code but also still held it in him to be gentle and kind. The man who played the flute, the man who had nearly resigned himself to a lifetime of loneliness after having his heart broken too many times.

 

Human beings were unique in that way, Q mused as he glanced back at his sleeping partner. Such a capacity to feel hurt and pain and loss, yet many of them only became kind as a result. There was no better example of that than the crew of the Enterprise. Dr. Crusher, for example. It would have been so easy to blame Jean-Luc for the death of her husband, to shut herself off to a world. Instead, she forgave and kept her heart open to the possibility of finding love again. It didn’t pain Q, knowing the journey her and Jean-Luc were on. He could never be a proper husband, after all, and the two of them would have many happy years together before Beverly entered Jean-Luc’s life in a romantic capacity. Then there was La Forge. His unending dedication and patience with Data, the relationship the two of them shared, it was something Q admired. 

 

Perhaps it wasn’t just humans though who held that capacity for kindness in the face of pain. There was Data himself, the android who again and again had to prove himself an individual being. Kira Nerys of Bajor, the girl who spent her childhood fighting but still managed to love with a gentle heart. Then the greatest example of all….

 

Q’s thoughts drifted to the Vulcan Ambassador, as they had a few times in the last few days. The man of two worlds, accepted fully by neither yet crucial to both. Trapped in a universe far away from all he’d ever known and forced to watch his planet destroyed. There was little to be done though. Some things even the Q didn’t interfere in. Certain timelines were too crucial. Interference could alter the very foundation of the universe. That had been very clearly proven by Nero’s interference and the way that the  _ other  _ universe had been altered. Even then, however, the two of them managed to find each other. It was something that had always perplexed the Q, something that certain Q devoted their entire existence to studying. Some beings always managed to find their way to one another, no matter what outside influences kept them apart. Their fates were entwined, linked together for reasons even the Q didn’t understand. The continuum had decided long ago that interference in those timelines was forbidden. Strictly forbidden. Any Q that interfered was expelled from the continuum immediately. 

 

It was because of this that Q wasn’t quite sure why his thoughts kept drifting back to the two of them. He had never been one to focus on the timelines he couldn’t interfere with. He much preferred to amuse himself with other things. That is, until Jean-Luc. But since his latest stay on the Enterprise had begun and Jean-Luc had recounted the story of Ambassador Spock and Admiral Kirk’s wedding to a group of amused senior officers, he’d kept coming back to them. It was a great tragedy, Counselor Troi had expressed softly. She hadn’t even known the full extent of it. It was that night that Q did not sleep. He instead went on a journey, one that began on the USS Enterprise and ended with his own Jean-Luc on a lonely clifftop. Needless to say, that ending hardly satisfied him. Years and years the two of them could have been together! Q couldn’t interfere though. It wasn't the first time the thought had crossed his mind, but it was becoming more and more persistent. He didn’t want to be expelled from the continuum, not after the disaster that had occurred last time. Though….as he looked back at Jean-Luc again, he thought about how he would feel if the roles were reversed. If Jean-Luc was separated from him and there were those that could help, but refused to. Anger swelled in him and he closed his eyes. 

 

It was then that Q knew his fate was sealed. He couldn’t very well just leave it alone. What would Jean-Luc do, after all? He would object to interference in the timeline, but if there was a way that Q could change the ending without interference then there should be no problem. He got to his feet and ran a hand through his hair, then looked over at the form of his sleeping lover. It pained him to think this could be the last time he saw Jean-Luc. He knew if he was expelled from the continuum, he couldn’t come back to the Enterprise. He wouldn’t put the crew in danger again, not like last time. He walked over and gently brushed his lips against Jean-Luc’s forehead.

 

Jean-Luc’s eyes blinked open. Years of training and multiple near death experiences meant that the man was a perpetually light sleeper. He looked up at Q and his brow furrowed. “Q? What are you doing up? It isn’t morning already, is it?” His voice was thick with sleep and he sat up in bed.

 

Q smiled ever so slightly. Jean-Luc knew him too well. The being would never admit to it, but he was a bit of a clinger in the mornings and had nearly made the Captain late several times. “No, my love. It isn’t morning yet, you still have several hours left to sleep.” He sat down on the edge of the bed and cupped Jean-Luc’s cheek.

 

That only seemed to confuse Jean-Luc more but he accepted the affection, perhaps more easily than he would have if he was fully awake. He stared at Q for a few seconds before his expression fell slightly. “It’s time for you to go now, isn’t it?”

 

Q’s resolve nearly wavered. It would have been so easy to say no, he had just been thinking. He could climb back into bed with Jean-Luc and let the universe do what it would with Kirk and Spock. But, well, it was Jean-Luc’s fault he was even considering this at all. He’d shown Q how to be compassionate, to perform acts of mercy rather than just randomly intervening when he saw fit. And the way he spoke about the two, Q could see the end to their story weighed on Jean-Luc as well. Even if he didn’t know the full end, even if he had no idea what his role in it would be. 

 

“I’m afraid so. But hopefully it won’t be for long. I know how impatient you get.” Q’s voice was teasing and Jean-Luc just shook his head, torn between exasperation and fondness. 

 

“I suppose I’ll see you when you return.” Jean-Luc leaned in and kissed Q softly, resting one hand against his thigh. “Try not to cause too much trouble, will you?”

 

Q smiled a bit brighter and laughed, getting to his feet. If only the other knew exactly where Q was going. “Don’t count on it, Jean-Luc.” He winked and then he was gone, disappearing in a flash of light.

 

**Author's Note:**

> And that's that. There will be part two eventually, from our beloved Jim's POV. Comments and kudos always appreciated! You can find me on Tumblr @wlwdisaster.


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